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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fringe showrunner Jeff Pinkner has insisted that the show's upcoming fourth season will not disappoint fans.

In the third season finale, Peter (Joshua Jackson) was erased from history by a mysterious time paradox.

"Rest assured we won't betray the audience," Pinkner told TV Line. "Taking Peter out of the story is another way to look at our series from another side. [We'll examine] what would have happened in these people's lives up to this point if [there was] no Peter."

In the original timeline, Peter's mother Elizabeth (Orla Brady) committed suicide when her son was a young boy.

"[Whether Elizabeth now survived is] the right question to ask," Pinkner explained. "And that's what [next] season will answer."

Pinkner recently promised that unresolved issues from the season finale will be dealt with in future episodes, while Joshua Jackson suggested that the fourth run of Fringe could introduce "radical" changes.

Fringe will return to Fridays at 9/8c in the fall on Fox.http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/s118/fringe/news/a321488/fringe-exec-new-season-wont-betray-fans.html

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum has signed on to Fox's sci-fi drama Fringe as a writer-producer after departing the network's Steven Spielberg series Terra Nova in September.

The Fringe gig marks Fury's reunion with J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot. Fury served as a co-executive producer and penned four episodes of Abrams' Lost during Season 1. He was nominated for a writing Emmy in 2004 for penning the series' "Walkabout" episode.

Fury, who also served as a co-executive producer on Fox's 24, joins co-creators Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as well as showrunners Jeff Pinker and J.H. Wyman.

Fury had signed on to serve as an executive producer on Terra Nova but left the prehistoric time-travel series in September, citing creative differences.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Last night Anna Torv & John Noble were honored by The Paley Center for Media as the organization presented An Evening with "Fringe" -- where the stars talked to a rapt room full of actors and show devotees about their experiences on Fox's sci-fi phenomenon.

But before they took the stage, Anna & John exclusively talked to PopWrap about the season three finale, what they think it means for their characters and where they hope things go in season four!

PopWrap: Congratulations on a truly incredible season finale -- what did you think of it?John Noble: I loved it. The script was evolving as we were doing it too – in particular, the ending with Peter evaporating. That was kind of a light thought that came in at one point and just made everyone say, “whoa.” But scripts often evolve like that, especially as they built the trilogy of episodes at the end of this season. So many things were happening, it was kind of mind boggling and very exciting, but kind of insane.

PW: Do you understand what happened?Anna Torv: I do, but I’m not quite sure where it’s going.John: At a psychological level, I absolutely understand it. For Walter/Walternate, I see them as the same man, so psychologically, I do understand. In dreams this happens, in other mental states this happens. So it doesn’t concern me that we do a literal representation that’s in another mind dimension, we all have those things.

PW: What excites you about the potential this universe bridge opens up for season four?Anna: So much! I don’t know for sure, we haven't talked to the showrunners yet, but I would think this obviously means her baby doesn’t exist. I'm also curious to the concept of, "How much pain has Peter caused Olivia over the last three seasons?" Now, who is she without ever having experienced that? What kind of shifts will the characters make without Peter in our lives? But simultaneously how are we going to find him?

PW: I would imagine it also means you'll be playing both versions of your characters a lot more next year.John: I think so too, and that is such a gift as an actor.Anna: I love it. I’m also excited because we seen a lot of interaction between the characters, which we will now that they’re in the same world. Also, with Lincoln too! I know Seth [Gabel] is coming back!John: Oh, he's so great!Anna: It’ll be fun to see him on both sides as well.

PW: That could get messy for Fauxlivia!John: Well she hasn’t committed to him yet!Anna: That’s true! Maybe Olivia will get her back and date Lincoln! She needs some love too [laughs].

PW: Tonight is all about the actorly part of "Fringe" and obviously these dual performances are an excellent example of that. How have you approached it?John: I’ve always seen these characters as the psychological parts of the same man. It’s that melding together – now the pressure is on enough that they have to stop compromising and come together. Because, and this is my personal opinion, but to survive this situation, this man needs to be his very best and that’s a combination of Walter and Walternate. That’s the approach I’m taking to it and it seems to be working. But we'll know for sure on Thursday, when we talk to the showrunners about season four.

PW: Oh man, you know that fans are going to be stalking your life on Friday now!Anna: [laughs]John: They’ll tell us just enough to keep us tantalized – that’s what they do.

PW: What are you hoping to talk about?Anna: In that last speech where Peter talked about who brought the parts back – Astrid or Ella – I’m interested in that. I wonder if we’ll do more back and forth with the future.John: I’m excited to continue with the different universes, I like that they’re going to work together. That’s always something we’ve wanted to do – not show a black and white world. This way you don’t automatically choose one side. We work really hard to humanize both sides.

PW: Back to the alternates, do you prefer playing one more than the other?John: I do. I enjoy Walter more because he’s so random. And as an actor, that means I can do whatever I want and get away with it, whereas Walternate is so stitched up. Walter is a lot more fun.Anna: It changes, I vacillate. When Faux-livia first came about I was thrilled not to be in the suit, but then I played Olivia Over There and I loved her during that period. It changes.

PW: Favorite episode this season?John: I loved the one with Christopher Lloyd. It was such a joy to work with him and he was so good in the role.Anna: I actually think “Entrada” – I enjoyed that because I had so much fun stuff to do,. You’re always biased towards things like that. It was my favorite episode to make, I don’t know how it would be watching it.

PW: And lastly, this show has really lived and died by the fans -- a very fickle community, it should be said. What kinds of comments have you been hearing from fans?Anna: One of the things I love about doing the show is that anyone who stops me on the street, always asks “what’s happening next?” To be a part of something that’s bigger than you is fun because it means that the show you're making is the star.John: That’s true. When people stop me on the street, it’s so generous and then “what do you know?” [laughs]. We have incredible fans.http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/fringe_stars_talk_past_present_future_WCVdPLnWorInilbfuhgftI

Monday, May 16, 2011

Fox just announced its primetime schedule for next season. One new drama, Terra Nova, three comedies, New Girl, I Hate My New Daughter and the animated Allen Gregory as well as Simon Cowell's reality show X Factor are launching in the fall, with dramas Alcatraz and Bones spinoff Finder as well as animated comedy Napoleon Dynamite joining in midseason. As we predicted, prehistoric drama Terra Nova will lead the network's Monday lineup at 8 PM, pushing veteran House to 9 PM. House will return to 8 PM in midseason to help launch the J.J. Abrams-produced Alcatraz behind it. As expected, Fox is keeping the Tuesday comedy block, with New Girl joining Glee and Raising Hope, and I Hate My Teenage Daughter will launch behind the X factor performance show. Also staying put is American Idol on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with its airing pattern mirrored in the fall by X Factor. Additionally, Fox announced that the next season of American Idol will kick off on Sunday, Jan 22 after the NFC Championship game, the first time the veteran reality series has had a season premiere outside of its regular nights. America's Most Wanted will no longer be a weekly series, scaling back to quarterly specials. Fox also listed the Tim Kring/Kiefer Sutherland drama Touch as being in development for midseason. Here are Fox's fall and midseason schedules:

Here is the rest of Fox's release with descriptions of the new series:New York (Monday, May 16, 2011) – Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment, Fox Networks Group; and Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, today unveiled the FOX primetime schedule for the 2011-2012 television season to the national advertising community during its annual Programming Presentation at The New Beacon Theatre.

“Nothing impacts culture the way a television show does,” said Rice. “And here at FOX, we have the most talked about, most followed, most creative shows that build connections between viewers and brands.”

“Going into next year, we've rejuvenated AMERICAN IDOL, built a core strength across the week and developed a really fresh, creative new lineup for next season," said Reilly. “From razor-sharp comedies to epic dramas to a massive talent competition series, I think we have the goods to continue to be pop culture’s most vibrant platform, as well as the top network.”

Launching this fall is the highly anticipated singing competition series THE X FACTOR, which marks the return of Simon Cowell to FOX. Cowell, along with Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Cheryl Cole and Paula Abdul, will judge the U.S. version of the international television phenomenon that will award an unprecedented $5 million recording contract with Syco/Sony Music to the next global superstar or breakout music group.

Epic family adventure series TERRA NOVA, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Jurassic Park”), Peter Chernin, René Echevarria (“Castle,” “The 4400”) and Brannon Braga (“24”) and starring Jason O’Mara (“Life On Mars”) and Stephen Lang (“Avatar”), premieres in the fall. The ambitious series follows an ordinary family on an extraordinary journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race.

Also debuting this fall are the half-hour comedies NEW GIRL (working title) and I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (working title). Created by Liz Meriwether (“No Strings Attached”), NEW GIRL (wt) is a new single-camera ensemble comedy starring Zooey Deschanel (“(500) Days of Summer”) as Jess, an offbeat girl who – after a bad breakup – moves in with three single guys and essentially sets a bomb off in their lives. New multi-camera family comedy I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (wt) stars Emmy Award winner Jaime Pressly (“My Name Is Earl”) and Tony Award winner Katie Finneran (“Wonderfalls”) as single moms, life-long friends – and former nerds – who fear their privileged and overly indulged daughters are turning out to be just like the girls who picked on them in high school.

ALLEN GREGORY is the new animated comedy joining the Sunday ANIMATION DOMINATION lineup this fall. Created by and featuring the voice of Jonah Hill (“Get Him to the Greek,” “Superbad”), ALLEN GREGORY is the story of an extremely pretentious 7-year-old about to embark on his greatest challenge yet: leaving the safety of homeschooling and attending elementary school with children his own age.

Television’s No. 1 hit series, AMERICAN IDOL, will kick off midseason with a special premiere event Sunday, Jan. 22 (10:00-11:00 PM ET/7:00-8:00 PM PT), immediately following the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Entering its remarkable 11th season, the series will continue to empower contestants and viewers to share their voices in deciding who will be the next AMERICAN IDOL.

The two new dramas set to launch in midseason are ALCATRAZ and THE FINDER. From executive producer J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Star Trek”) and writer Elizabeth Sarnoff (“Lost”) and starring Sarah Jones (“Sons of Anarchy”), Jorge Garcia (“Lost”) and Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”), ALCATRAZ is the chilling new thriller centered on America’s most infamous prison and the mysterious return of its most notorious criminals. Created by Hart Hanson, the executive producer and creator of BONES, THE FINDER is a new procedural drama starring Geoff Stults (“She’s Out of My League”) as an Iraq war vet with an extraordinary ability to help people find the unfindable.

Based on the hit cult classic and featuring the voices of the film’s original cast, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is the new animated comedy premiering in midseason. The series follows the continuing adventures of Napoleon Dynamite, America’s most awesomely awkward teenager, and his quirky family and friends as they navigate life in rural Idaho.

In March, while GLEE takes a break before its spring semester return, FOX will continue the laughs on Tuesdays with a block of four half-hour comedies. The night will feature the critically acclaimed RAISING HOPE, new comedies I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (wt) and NEW GIRL (wt), as well as one of the additional comedies in development, including FAMILY ALBUM (working title) and LITTLE IN COMMON (working title). Starring Mike O’Malley (GLEE) and Rachael Harris (“The Hangover”), FAMILY ALBUM (wt) is the single-camera comedy that takes a snapshot of the Bronsky clan as they reveal the hilarious stories behind the photo-worthy moments of life. The new family comedy LITTLE IN COMMON (wt), starring Rob Corddry (“Hot Tub Time Machine”) and Kevin Hart (“Death at a Funeral”), follows three diverse middle-class families who become intertwined when their children play on youth sports teams together.

In addition, Kiefer Sutherland, star of the landmark Emmy Award-winning series “24,” returns to FOX in TOUCH, scheduled to go into pilot production this June. Written and created by Tim Kring (“Heroes”), TOUCH centers on the relationship between a single father and his 11-year-old son with special needs. Their relationship and their lives take an extraordinary turn when the gifted son begins to make connections in his life and around the world.

This spring, FOX will celebrate its 25th birthday with a star-studded look back at the last quarter-century on the FOX 25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (working title) airing Sunday, April 1. FOX’s biggest stars from both past and present will make appearances to honor the network that began 25 years ago.

Simon Cowell returns to FOX in the award-winning international phenomenon THE X FACTOR. This new competition series, hosted by Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones, gives viewers the opportunity to help choose the next global superstar or breakout music group. THE X FACTOR judges will travel the nation searching for undiscovered talent 12 years old or over – both solo artists and vocal groups – who are willing to brave the panel for a chance to make their dreams come true. Auditions for THE X FACTOR were held this spring in Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Newark, NJ; Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; and Dallas, TX. In a departure from other singing competition series, the first time a contestant auditions for judges Simon Cowell, Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Cheryl Cole and Paula Abdul, he/she will do so in front of an audience of thousands – raising the stakes and increasing the pressure to impress not only the judges, but also a potential legion of fans. This will be the ultimate test to prove they have the vocal ability, charisma and stage presence it takes to become a global superstar or breakout music act and win a $5 million recording contract with Syco/Sony Music. Those contestants who survive the first auditions graduate to “boot camp” and will be divided into four categories. Each category will be mentored by one of the show’s judges. Not only is it a competition between the hopefuls to stake their claim for the coveted win, but it’s also a showdown among the judges as to whose acts will dominate the competition and make it to the finals. The judges may have their say in how the competition progresses, but it will be up to America to decide who ultimately has THE X FACTOR.

I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (working title) is a new multi-camera comedy about two best friends who are single moms struggling to raise their difficult and over-privileged teenage daughters. ANNIE (Emmy Award winner Jaime Pressly, “My Name Is Earl”) and NIKKI (Tony Award winner Katie Finneran, “Wonderfalls”) are former high school outcasts whose pasts inform their current parenting styles. Annie, who was raised in an ultra-strict, über-religious household where she had little-to-no freedom, pretty much allows her daughter, SOPHIE (Kristi Lauren, “You”), to do whatever she wants. Nikki, once an unpopular, overweight social pariah, has reinvented herself as a pretty Southern belle whose top priority is providing her daughter, MACKENZIE (Aisha Dee, “Dead Gorgeous”), with the childhood she never had. Sophie and Mackenzie are also best friends, which leads to a lot of co-parenting for Annie and Nikki. They have given the girls everything they asked for and everything they never had: clothes, money and self-esteem. The unintended consequence is they have created two mean girls just like the ones who tortured them years ago. Sophie finds her mother embarrassing and mocks her at every opportunity, but she secretly needs her mom and knows that her behavior is not always appropriate. Mackenzie, on the other hand, is the more manipulative of the daughters – she knows how to work her mother’s insecurities to her benefit. Annie’s ex-husband, MATT (Eric Sheffer Stevens, “As The World Turns”), wants to be a good parent, but is too clueless to know what that even means. That leaves his brother, JACK (Kevin Rahm, “Desperate Housewives,” “Judging Amy”), an attractive, high-powered attorney, to serve as more of a father figure for Sophie. Jack’s meddling would annoy Annie more if she didn’t have such a crush on him. GARY (Chad Coleman, “The Wire”), Nikki’s ex, also tries to help raise his challenging daughter, but the couple’s complicated relationship often makes his involvement more difficult. As their daughters begin to experience their first high school dances and other life-changing teen events, Annie and Nikki are often reminded of their own tortured adolescent years. But when Sophie and Mackenzie’s mean-girl antics cross the line, the moms quickly realize that they must, for the first time, dole out some real punishment and fix what is broken. They have no idea how to do that, but they do know one thing: They can’t do it without each other.

NEW GIRL (working title) is a new single-camera comedy from Liz Meriwether (“No Strings Attached”) that features a young ensemble cast and takes a fresh and outrageous look at modern male/female relationships. JESS DAY (Zooey Deschanel, “(500) Days of Summer”) is an offbeat and adorable girl in her late 20s who, after a bad breakup, moves in with three single guys. Goofy, positive, vulnerable and honest to a fault, Jess has faith in people, even when she shouldn’t. Although she’s dorky and awkward, she’s comfortable in her own skin. More prone to friendships with women, she’s not used to hanging with the boys – especially at home. Of the three male roommates, NICK (Jake Johnson, “No Strings Attached”) is the most grounded. He had big plans for life, but somewhere along the way, he stopped caring and became a bartender. Usually the smartest guy in the room, he has an uncanny knack for reading people and uses humor to deflect everyone and everything. SCHMIDT (Max Greenfield, “Ugly Betty”) is a hustling young professional who fancies himself a modern-day Casanova. Though his heart is usually in the right place, he’s always scheming ways to climb the social ladder and is driven by an immature and almost obsessive urge to be on “the scene.” Viewing Jess as a gateway into the elusive female mind, as well as a personal project, Schmidt encourages the guys to bring Jess into the apartment. The third roommate, COACH (Damon Wayans Jr., “The Underground”), is a former high school athlete who currently makes his living as a personal trainer. Set in his ways and with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to dating, Coach is most comfortable when he’s in the gym. Though he’ll never admit it, Coach’s macho athletic exterior is actually a cover for his shyness around women, and he struggles to translate his personal confidence into conversation, preferring to speak in sports metaphors – or not at all. Rounding out this group is Jess’ childhood best friend, CECE (Hannah Simone, “Beautiful People”), a deadpan, somewhat cynical model who blossomed after outgrowing her promiscuous adolescent years. She has the street smarts Jess lacks and spends a lot of time doling out no-nonsense relationship advice that only a professional model could give. She and Jess balance each other well and accept each other despite their faults, making Cece the perfect complement to Jess. As their relationships progress, the five friends come to realize they need each other more than they ever thought they would and end up forming a charmingly dysfunctional family.

ALLEN GREGORY is a new animated comedy series that tells the story of one of the most pretentious 7-year-olds of our time. When he looks in the mirror, ALLEN GREGORY DE LONGPRE (Jonah Hill, “Superbad,” “Get Him to the Greek”) doesn’t see a child. He sees a young man who is intelligent, sophisticated, worldly, artistic and romantic – characteristics he inherited from his doting father, RICHARD (French Stewart, “Private Practice,” “3rd Rock from the Sun”). The pair share an extraordinary father-son bond – a bond that is sometimes annoyingly interrupted by Richard’s life partner, JEREMY (Nat Faxon, THE CLEVELAND SHOW, “Reno 911!”), for whom Allen Gregory has minimal respect, if any at all. They live together in a stunning architectural loft, along with JULIE (Joy Osmanski, “Grey’s Anatomy”), Allen Gregory’s adopted Cambodian sister. Although Allen Gregory has allegedly composed operas, written novels and dated Chloë Sevigny, he’s about to embark on his greatest challenge yet: leaving the safety of his father’s homeschooling and attending elementary school with children his own age. His journey will be a struggle, not only with the other kids at school, but with the faculty as well. Whether it’s the all-out rivalry with GINA WINTHROP (guest voice Leslie Mann, “Funny People”), his by-the-book second grade teacher; his unique relationship with JUDITH GOTTLIEB (guest voice Renée Taylor, “How I Met Your Mother”), his 68-year-old principal; or his desperate desire to be best friends with JOEL ZADAK (guest voice Jake Johnson, “Get Him to the Greek”), the school’s popular stud, Allen Gregory has his work cut out for him. With the help of his trusty friend and assistant, PATRICK VANDERWEEL (Cristina Pucelli, “Finley the Fire Engine”); and the support of SUPERINTENDENT STEWART ROSSMYRE (Will Forte, “Saturday Night Live”), who believes the De Longpres are a tremendous asset to the school, Allen Gregory won’t have to get his hands too dirty. ALLEN GREGORY is about an outsider. And while he may put on a tough exterior, deep down, all Allen Gregory wants is to fit in. Well, that, and for Julie to run away and never be seen or heard from again. And Jeremy too.

From executive producers Steven Spielberg (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Jurassic Park”), Peter Chernin, René Echevarria (“Castle,” “The 4400”) and Brannon Braga (“24”) comes an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making. TERRA NOVA follows an ordinary family on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. When scientists at the FERMI Particle Accelerator unexpectedly discovered a fracture in time that made it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion was born to resettle humanity in the past – a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time. The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first colony established in this beautiful yet foreboding land. JIM SHANNON (Jason O’Mara, “Life on Mars”), a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new world of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim’s wife, ELISABETH (Shelley Conn, “Mistresses”), is a trauma surgeon and the newest addition to Terra Nova’s medical team. JOSH (Landon Liboiron, “Degrassi: The Next Generation”) is their 17-year-old son who is angry to leave life as he knows it behind; upon arriving at the settlement, he finds himself instantly drawn to the beautiful and rule-breaking SKYE (Allison Miller, “Kings”). MADDY (Naomi Scott, “Life Bites”), Josh’s endearingly awkward 15-year-old sister, hopes Terra Nova will give her a chance to reinvent herself. Although Elisabeth’s medical training secured the family a spot on the pilgrimage, a secret involving their five-year-old daughter, ZOE (newcomer Alana Mansour), soon endangers their place in this utopia. Upon the Shannons’ arrival, they are introduced to COMMANDER NATHANIEL TAYLOR (Stephen Lang, “Avatar”), the charismatic and heroic first pioneer and leader of the settlement. Taylor warns the travelers that while Terra Nova is a place of new opportunities and fresh beginnings, all is not as idyllic as it initially appears. Along with blue skies, towering waterfalls and lush vegetation, the surrounding terrain is teeming with danger – and not just of the man-eating dinosaur variety. There is also a splinter colony of renegades led by the battle-hardened MIRA (Christine Adams, “TRON: Legacy”), who is vehemently opposed to Taylor and his leadership. Even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls of the colony is the chilling possibility that something sinister is happening inside Terra Nova. The Shannons will come to suspect that not everyone on this mission has the same idea of how to best save mankind; in fact, there may be forces intent on destroying this new world before it even begins.

Iraq war veteran WALTER SHERMAN (Geoff Stults, “She’s Out of My League”) gained a reputation while serving in the Army Military Police as someone who was very good at tracking down insurgents, deserters and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Unfortunately, Walter found one IED just moments before it found him. Two months later, when Walter woke from his coma, he earned an honorable discharge and returned home. His resulting brain damage from the explosion transformed him from someone skilled at recovering people and things into something much more extraordinary: a Finder. From the creator of the hit series BONES comes THE FINDER, the new one-hour procedural centering on a remarkable man who uses his unique gift to help others recover what they’ve lost. Walter may have left the military, but his reputation as a discreet professional who can unearth anything and anyone has been passed on to generals, politicians and other powerful figures. His first post-military assignment was to find the CIA head honcho’s missing daughter and bring her home. Walter did both, and since then has never been without an assignment. After settling in Key West, Walter met the beautiful and worldly IKE LATULIPPE (Saffron Burrows, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), a woman with a mysterious past and many hidden skills. She tends bar at The Ends of the Earth, which also serves as a makeshift office and home base for Walter. Walter helped Ike escape a dangerous life, and for that, she is eternally grateful. Another island denizen dedicated to Walter is LEO KNOX (Michael Clarke Duncan, “The Green Mile”), once an obese lawyer who, after the deaths of his wife and children, completely reinvented himself into a gentle giant, philosopher and Walter’s legal advisor. Because of his skills, Walter is often asked to find a person or a thing that law enforcement either will not or cannot find. With the help of Ike and Leo, as well as a patchwork of indebted connections, he and his team ultimately find meaning in their own lives by finding something or someone other people have lost.

From executive producer J.J. Abrams (FRINGE, “Lost,” “Star Trek” and the upcoming “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “Super 8”) and writer and executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff (“Lost,” “Deadwood”) comes ALCATRAZ, the chilling new thriller centered on America’s most infamous prison and one-time home to the nation’s most notorious murderers, rapists, kidnappers, thieves and arsonists. When San Francisco Police Department DET. REBECCA MADSEN (Sarah Jones, “Sons of Anarchy”) is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: JACK SYLVANE (guest star Jeffrey Pierce, “The Nine”), a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Given her family history – both her grandfather and surrogate uncle, RAY ARCHER (Robert Forster, “Jackie Brown”), were guards at the prison – Madsen’s interest is immediately piqued, and once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent EMERSON HAUSER (Sam Neill, “Jurassic Park”) tries to impede her investigation, she’s doggedly committed. Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, DR. DIEGO “DOC” SOTO (Jorge Garcia, “Lost”), to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events. The twosome discovers that Sylvane is not only alive, but he’s loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn’t aged a day since he was in Alcatraz, when the prison was ruled by the iron-fisted WARDEN EDWIN JAMES (Jonny Coyne, “Undercovers”) and the merciless ASSOCIATE WARDEN E.B. TILLER (Jason Butler Harner, “The Changeling”). Madsen and Soto reluctantly team with Agent Hauser and his technician, LUCY BANERJEE (Parminder Nagra, “ER”), to stop Sylvane’s vengeful killing spree. By delving into Alcatraz history, government cover-ups and Rebecca’s own heritage, the team will ultimately discover that Sylvane is only a small part of a much larger, more sinister present-day threat. For while he may be the first, it quickly becomes clear that Sylvane won’t be the last prisoner to reappear from Alcatraz. Through the course of the investigation, Madsen and Soto will learn that Agent Hauser has known about the prison’s secret history and has been awaiting the prisoners’ return. Soto will witness his life’s work – the history of Alcatraz – come alive. Madsen will be forced to keep her supportive San Francisco cop fiancé, JIMMY DICKENS (Santiago Cabrera, “Heroes”), at arm’s length from the highly classified assignment as she sees everything she thought she knew about her family’s past shattered, all while fighting to keep the country safe from history’s most dangerous criminals.

Based on the hit film, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is an animated series that follows the continuing adventures of America’s most awesome awkward teenager and his quirky family and friends as they struggle to navigate small-town life in rural Idaho. The original cast from the film – Jon Heder, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Jon Gries and Diedrich Bader – will voice their characters in the series, and many new characters will be added along the way. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced – for no apparent reason – that he is destined for greatness and blessed with unlimited “sweet abilities.” He spends his days practicing ninja moves, drawing ligers, soul dancing and bragging about his “girlfriend in Oklahoma” whom nobody has ever seen. Napoleon’s brother, KIP (Ruell), is an unemployed 32-year-old who lives at home and believes he would be an amazing catch for any girl who would respond to his online come-ons. The Dynamite brothers live with GRANDMA (Martin), a crusty woman who can often be found four-wheeling with her lady friends at the local sand dunes. Napoleon’s allies include PEDRO (Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president; and DEB (Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife. Napoleon’s UNCLE RICO (Gries) lives out of an orange custom van, where he obsesses over his botched high school football career and dreams up ways to become rich and famous. Then there’s REX KWON DO (Bader), a self-proclaimed martial-arts master who runs the local dojo. Guest voices in the debut season include Jennifer Coolidge (“American Pie,” “Legally Blonde”), Sam Rockwell (“Choke”) and Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”).

From writer/creator Tim Kring (“Heroes,” “Crossing Jordan”) and executive producers Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope comes TOUCH, a preternatural drama in which science and spirituality intersect with the hopeful premise that we are all interconnected, tied in invisible ways to those whose lives we are destined to alter and impact. Through masterful storytelling, the series follows a group of seemingly unrelated characters – beginning with a former firefighter tormented by his inability to save a dying woman, an Iraqi teenager who will go to great risks to help his family, a gifted singer whose actions at a karaoke bar save lives thousands of miles away and a British businessman desperately trying to retrieve a key piece of information from his lost mobile phone – who affect each other in ways seen and unseen. At the center is MARTIN BOHM (Kiefer Sutherland, “24”), a widower and single father, haunted by an inability to connect to his mute, severely autistic 10-year-old son, JAKE. Caring, intelligent and thoughtful, Martin has tried everything to reach his son who shows little emotion and never allows himself to be touched by anyone, including Martin. Jake busies himself with cast-off cell phones, disassembling them and manipulating the parts, allowing him to see the world in his own special way. After multiple failed attempts at keeping Jake in school, Martin is visited by social worker CLEA HOPKINS, who insists on doing an evaluation of the Bohms’ living situation. Although new at her job, Clea sees a man whose life has become dominated by a child he can no longer control. She believes his attempts to communicate with Jake are just wish fulfillment, and determines that it’s time for the state to intervene. But everything changes when Martin discovers that Jake possesses a gift of staggering genius – the ability to see things that no one else can, the patterns that connect everything. Jake is indeed communicating after all. But it’s not with words, it’s with numbers. And now he needs Martin to decipher their meaning and connect these numbers to the cast of seemingly unrelated characters whose lives they affect. Along the way, Martin will be guided by BORIS PODOLSKY, a discredited aging professor who offers Martin a compelling but unorthodox theory about Jake and his rare ability. Whether it be chance, coincidence, timing, synergy or fate, there are events that touch us all, as part of an interconnected, dazzlingly precise universe.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

By Daniel Fienberg - How will things change? Will the 2026 Future return? And more...Wednesday, May 11, 2011 2:39 PM

FOX's "Fringe" wrapped up its third season on Friday night with a brain-bending cliffhanger that left fans expressing themselves with excited combinations of exclamation points and question marks.

Many fans loved the apparent shift in the "Fringe" paradigm. Some fans were less enamored. But for all of them, there was one major question: What the heck is this going to mean moving forward?

On Monday, I got on the phone with "Fringe" showrunners Jeff Pinkner and and Joel Howard "J.H." Wyman to discuss "The Day We Died" and the way it will ripple into Season Four this fall.

It won't surprise "Fringe" fans to know that I got very few concrete answers about next season, but I think that Pinkner and Wyman definitely provided a lot of insight into their approach to the structure and mythology of their show.

Click through for the full interview, but only assuming you've seen the finale...

HitFix: Hey guys. Thanks for chatting. We've had a few days since the finale aired. Have you had a chance to check out the reactions and gotten a feel for what the temperature in the room was?

Jeff Pinkner: We always do. We've said it before: We care very much what our fans and what the audience thinks. We also know that's not representative of the entire audience. We strive to take what the audience thinks into consideration, while at the same time not allowing it to, in and of itself, drive the ship.

HitFix: What have have you thought of the reactions?

JP: We're pleased. Yeah. I think that we're very pleased by the reaction. I think that there was a lot of "What the f***?" and frustration at the very ending of the show, which is not surprising when one of the core characters ceases to exist. What did you think?

HitFix: Honestly? For me, the answer is going to be in how well you guys pay it off at the start of next season. If it gets paid off well? It's all aces. Who knows from there?

JHW: I think that's always the case with something that's kinda audacious or risky in any sort of way. People are always going to say, "Well wait a minute. Why did you do that?" And if it becomes evident later that there was a good reason, then you're right, people are going to say, "Wow. I completely understand why they did that." Look, it's our MO. We've said it before that we always plot the seasons out a year in advance. We're not going around willy-nilly. It's something that we always lay out and we definitely know where we're going and feel like this is a perfect set-up for Season Four. A lot of the things and a lot of decisions that I think may confuse some people now -- other people it didn't, but some people it did confuse and some for some people they were good questions and for some people they were bad questions -- we feel confident that the answers will be revealed in the following season.

HitFix: One thing I definitely felt as I finished the episode was, "Oh my goodness, if that had even potentially been a series finale, people would have burnt down your offices." Did you guys have any fears about that?

JP: Well, we knew that this was not going to be the series finale. And, by the way, if it had been the series finale, we wouldn't have been in the offices anymore, so it would have been a crime against property, but not necessarily against me and Joel and all of our colleagues. As fans, if that were the series finale of a show that I love, I would be frustrated. At the same time, there's a certain honesty in it, that Walter ultimately was willing to make the the sacrifice that he recognized he may need to make in order to undo all of the wrongs, all of the damage that he had caused. A lot of our favorite stories don't end necessarily happily with a neat little bow, but end with some sort of emotional complications. Life is not all good or all bad. It's a mix of both. Had this been the end of the series, and it wasn't and nor was it ever intended to be, I think we would have felt that we were being honest to the core of the show.

HitFix: How did you decide that this particular episode and place was where you wanted to end Season Three? The penultimate episode with the conclusion in the future also had a finale-esque feeling.

JHW: This was the plan from the beginning. If we would have left Peter in the future, then the people who *did* enjoy this one would say, "Wow. I didn't like that." For us, it was something that's going to set up and lay groundwork and open a new chapter for the upcoming season. We didn't ever waver from the direction where we set out. It wasn't even an issue. It wasn't even a question.

HitFix: Obviously you guys aren't going to tell me specifics, but how would you describe the new structure or chapter this opens up for Season 4?

JP: New structure? Well, "Fringe" is always going to be "Fringe." If you want to go back to the beginning of Season Two, when Jeff and I had to decide, "Well how are we going to tell the story of Over Here and Over There? Are we going to have flashbacks? Flashforwards? Flashovers, as it were? Or are we going to actually trade off going across one episode after the next or some degree of a pattern like that?" And we felt like it wasn't honest enough to set up a compelling mythology for Over There if we're just giving people little bits of an episode. We felt it was too hard for people to get on-board with just seeing half an episode Over There and half an episode Over Here. People would get lost or confused. We said, "Look, we know we have a compelling mythology Over There that we believe in and we want to allow people to experience that in the best possible way." What that meant to us was being able to tell stories on a thematic level that we weren't able to tell Over Here. We could learn more about stories and more about the human condition and ask question about existence from Over There, while asking and inviting the audience to become invested in these new ideas. So as that went forward, we were lucky and people really found what we hoped they would, which is that they enjoyed. We're on a course of expansion. Last year we got the right to say we have two shows about one show, which is true.

So next season, what this allows us to do is it's going to allow us to pull from other elements as well. We're going to be able to have people Over Here that are from Over There, we're going to have people Over There from Over Here. There's a tremendous amount of drama. The worlds are still breaking down. What happened to Peter Bishop is obviously a question. Will he return? How is he going to return? In what capacity is he going to return? "Fringe" has the ability to not do anything normal. "Fringe" has the ability to take a kidnapping story and turn it into one that happened across universes. Or a pregnancy story and have the birth happen within the span of three hours. It's safe to say that we just want to have as many options as possible to keep the entertainment coming, to keep the drama flowing and to keep people compelled. So that was our main goal, to be able to, next season, tell even richer stories with people you're starting to get to know and who you know already.

HitFix: You've opened up a lot of storylines, but do you guys feel like you've closed off any storylines, per se? I saw a number of people concerned about the many things directly associated with Peter which, in their minds, could no longer exist because Peter "never existed." Do you feel like there are any hard and fast rules for what doesn't exist anymore?

JP: One of the notable things about time-travel paradoxes is that there are several ways to attack the time-travel paradox and as long as you remain honest and consistent with the rules that you choose to follow, the rules that you choose to establish, you're good. So we'll be very clear with the rules that we are establishing and hopefully we will remain true to those. But people's concerns for the baby and Walter and Walternate's history, those answers will become clear. It's funny, we felt that we reinvented the show and that the network would be more concerned at the end of Season Two going into Season Three, the idea that Olivia was stuck Over There and Bolivia was embedded on our team. That was a huge reimagining of the show in the network's eyes and they were very nervous, like "How are we going to tell 'Fringe' stories after that?" And we did. In fact, we would argue that the show became more compelling and that the storytelling became more rich and we hope to do the same thing this year, going into Season Four. And the network is not nearly as anxious. I think we've gained some trust and hopefully the audience will display the same trust.

There are two kinds of television shows: There's a show that's about a condition, about a hospital or about a police precinct or about a team of lawyers. And then there are shows about characters or an unfolding story. Ours is the latter and it needs to unfold. It can't stay still. We couldn't tell the same kinds of stories we were telling in Season Three forever, just like we couldn't tell the same kind of stories we were telling in Season Two forever, without it starting to stagnate. So the show is moving forward. It's the same character. It's ultimately, hopefully, the same variety of themes that we enjoy exploring so much. And hopefully it will just continue to grow and deepen and to get richer.

HitFix: And you guys also left a ton of mysteries in the 2026 future that may not still exist. How alive do you see that future world as being for upcoming stories?

JHW: I think we've gained a platform being able to say that we're going back in time and tell a slice of story that will inform the viewer and be able to say, "Hey, if I didn't see that episode, I would have missed a lot. On all kinds of levels." We look to the future-type-episodes as possibilities like that. Will it be the exact same future? We don't know. Will it be after that? Who knows? Perhaps. I can guarantee you that the only reason we would slip back and forth is to tell stories that are thematically relevant to what we're talking about now, in Season Four, to try and influence our storytelling in the past and future in that way. It's not that the whole structure of the show is going to change. It's not that you're going to be in the future in ever second episode. That's just not in the cards.

HitFix: But should viewers get invested in what happened in Detroit? Should viewers be invested in what happened with Broyles' eye? Should they be invested in how Walter's trial went down?

JHW: Yeah. Those are interesting. A lot of things are going to have degrees of importance. I think The Trial of Walter Bishop is very, very important and I know Jeff agrees. That's a very big time in Walter's life and people who love Walter will love to see that. We know what happened to Broyles in Detroit. We know what happened to his eye. We love to set seeds. That's kinda what we do all the time. We endeavor to do that. People would say, "Oh my gosh, in Season One, I saw amber and I didn't even understand what context it was. I had it in the wrong context. Now I realize that amber is something completely different from what I thought it was." Or in Episode Two, even, where the babies rapidly grew, when they were growing the soldiers like tomatoes, this came back in the Olivia pregnancy storyline. We're always trying to repeat on ourselves and always trying to to keep recontextualizing the program for the viewer who's really paying attention.

JP: One of the themes we've explored from the beginning is this notion of Choice vs. Fate and Inevitability. As The Observers have said, there are many possible futures unfolding at every moment. Of course, which one comes to pass is determined by all the interconnected choices that all of humanity is making simultaneously. So we witnessed, in our finale, one possible future in 2026. Whether that specific future happens or whether we're going to tell 15 more seasons of this television show to actually get there in real-time is unlikely on both fronts, because circumstances will change. However, there are certain events -- like Walter's Trial, like what happened in Detroit, which may or may not be related to how Broyles lost an eye -- those events may unfold anyway, because constantly there's tension between Fate and Choice and Synchronicity. Does that make sense?

HitFix: Ummm... *Some* sense, certainly?

JP: Sortta like the notion of... Your parents met under a certain set of circumstances, if they hadn't met that way, would they have met some other way? Would you still be here, perhaps born a year later?

JHW: Or earlier.

JP: Or earlier. Are certain events inevitable or are they all determined simply based on the choices that we all make.

HitFix: It seemed notable that you ended the season with The Observers getting the last word, so to speak. This season there were a couple Observer-heavy episodes. How much is Season Four the Season of The Observer?

JHW: We're definitely going to expand on people's understanding of The Observers, for sure. That's a story that's now ready to be told and we'll definitely go there.

HitFix: Earlier, you mentioned the things that were introduced in earlier episodes that maybe viewers didn't understand in that context, but that came to be much more important later on. How much would you say that what we witnessed this season was always the plan for Peter's machine, that this was always the plan you had for Sam Weiss, that this was always the plan behind the Olivia powers that were introduced in Season One and then not mentioned again for a while? How much was plan and how much was retroactive reimagining?

JP: Look, we as storytellers... It would be unfair to say it's Joel and I... J.J. [Abrams] and Bob [Orci] and Alex [Kurtzman] created the show and Joel and I and Akiva Goldsman and our phenomenal staff of writers have a paradigm and a framework that's been in place from early on. And we're exploring a world. So we established the world from the beginning and as we find avenues that are interesting, we go down them further and then they lead to doors that were maybe unexpected, but we go "Oh, that door connected to... That's a shortcut to France. We thought we would have to go to France by way of New York and then hopping on a plane and flying across an ocean, but in fact it turns out that we can head west and there's a door to France." I know that this is a horrible analogy, but a lot of the storytelling and a lot of the larger paradigms and themes have been in place from the beginning -- as is the ending, as a matter of fact -- but how we get there, we need to keep it interesting and exciting for ourselves. Otherwise, it will just be flat. So how we get there is always both predetermined and then also changes based on the choices we make.

JHW: To us, we enjoy setting things up and just saying, "OK. That's set up. We can move on to something else." We're not saying people won't be completely engaged by that thing we set up and are asking for an answer right away, but isn't that sorta like opening your presents on the day before Christmas? It's gonna come. That's why you watch a narrative is to watch it unfold. We intentionally set things up and say, "OK. We're gonna take our foot off of the accelerator on that element, for now, and examine these" and try to give people some building blocks for some other understanding that we want them to have. You mentioned the powers. In the season finale, they came to fruition, didn't they? To a certain extent. So you realize, "OK, so she did develop something and there was something going on and she has sorta mastered them to some degree. Isn't that interesting?" It's a task, because "OK, we know where that's going to go," but to a viewer, hopefully, they'll take it and go, "Oh, that's cool. She must have developed it." We think our viewers are really smart. And sometimes we do maybe ask them to paint in negative space. And that's cool. They do, most of the time.

HitFix: It's asking a lot sometimes. But when did you guys accept the idea that there would no longer be such a thing as a "casual" "Fringe" viewer? One who could drop in and drop out and still follow things?

JP: We haven't really accepted that at all. We anecdotally, each of us have friends and acquaintances who sadly are just occasional "Fringe" viewers or happily are just occasional "Fringe" viewers. We strive to maintain access points for people who are not serialized, devoted viewers of every episode. Obviously the more heavily mythological episodes, you certainly want to know what's going on, but a lot of the episodes we strive very hard to make sure that there is a story-of-the-week, whether it's about our characters or it's about the case-of-the-week, the bad guy of the week. Though suddenly they're dropping off the networks, the daytime serials, I remember being a kid home from school and turning on "All My Children" and after 15 minutes, you're pretty much caught up on everything you need to know in order to enjoy that episode. You might not know that this person, before losing their mind, was an alien, but you know enough to watch the episode now and get some real satisfaction out of it. And we still maintain to tell our stories like that. Joel and I have spoken often of this term, "myth-alone," which we believe we've coined, which is telling stand-alone episodes -- in that they each have a beginning, middle and end -- while still being true and honest and advancing the character and narrative mythology of the world so that there's something for everybody.

HitFix: And I like and have used the term "myth-alone." It just feels like this season, episodes became more "myth" and less "alone."

JHW: Sure, the end of the season was slanted a little more towards the mythology. It seems like a really simple idea like, "Hey, why don't you do a show that has a case-of-the-week, but has some mythology running through it?" and it may be simple, but it's like one of those puzzles where when you're in it, you can't see the answer, but when you know the answer you're like, "Oh duh." It took us some time to get there. An episode that we always point to is "White Tulip," as a perfect example. I think that anybody can sit down and watch that story, because it's about love, it's about loss, it's about faith. It's about all of those things and people can identify with that. You can feel all of those thematic things in Walter's performance and Walter's storyline about giving that letter to Peter. You don't need to know the entire thing. You just know that a man is facing a very difficult decision.

There are two types of viewers: There are the viewers who are going to sit down and they're gonna watch a show because they're invested in the characters and then there's the person who's going to follow the mythology. Our fans, our hardcore fans, the ones who followed us over to Friday and have been with us, they let us know loud and clear, "We're not really interested in the monster-of-the-week format. We don't respond to that. We want just mythology." So that was our journey. It's the network business to get new eyeballs and of course that's totally logical. It's a very expensive canvas to paint on and it needs to be paid for. I wish people would understand that this is not just a science fiction show, but a family drama and come to it. It's a tough sell with the science fiction moniker. We just dove in and said, "We're going to tell the stories that we really want to tell for as long as people will allow us to tell them." So far, you guys and the press in general have been so kind and it's for that reason that we're still around, the reviews and the things like that. We're just doing what we think is right. I don't know that we'll ever be a crossover hit where all of a sudden everybody in the world's watching "Fringe."

HitFix: As a last question, how are you guys approaching this fourth season, big picture-wise? You said you know where the end is. Are you approaching this as a prelude to a hypothetical Season 5, Season 6. Or is this a gift opportunity to bring the story close to that end?

JP: Certainly more the former. Certainly more that we have a lot of story left to tell and we hope that we have the good fortune and the opportunity to tell it. We're never gonna... we're not declaring an end to the series.

JHW: The show's evolving and turning consistently and organically it's changing. And with that change, there's always more story avenues and venues to come up.

Michael AusielloEditor in Chief Looks like someone’s going to take advantage of that fancy new “bridge” between universes next season on Fringe — and that someone is Seth Gabel!

Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that the actor — who has recurred the last two seasons as Bolivia’s “Over There” colleague, Lincoln Lee — will return in Season 4 as a full-fledged series regular.

In a March episode, viewers finally met Linc’s “Over Here” doppelganger — a mild-mannered FBI desk jockey. But I think it’s safe to say it’s the immensely popular alt-Linc who will be the version we see more of come fall.

This marks Gabel’s first full-time series gig since he starred as silver-spooned brat Jeremy Darling on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money.

Fringe Spoiler: New Intel on The Top-Secret ‘Bridge’

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Fringe fans will greet this news with open and loving arms. Feel free to back me up on that in the comments.http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/fringe-promotes-seth-gabel-to-series-regular/

To date, John Noble has been tasked with playing Walter, Walternate and younger versions of each. But as glimpsed in the promo for the season finale airing Friday, he has added Future Walter and Walternate to his repertoire – the former of which seems to have regressed to the disoriented incarnation first visited in the series pilot. “There’s a variation [on one of my characters] that you’ll see in the finale that did affect my concentration, my mood,” the actor shares. Speaking of the sure-to-be-freaky season-ender, Noble suggests that the “6:02″ time that was critical to the April 22 episode will come into play again during the Fox drama’s closing hour. “That time frame is very important to remember as we get to the finale,” he teases. Do you think Future Peter might somehow travel to the past – to prior to 6:02 AM on that meaningful morning — to keep the Machine from being activated in the first place?

In the final moments of Friday’s intense, breakneck-paced episode, Peter climbed into the Doomsday Device and was transported 15 years into the future.

Well, I can now confirm that, in next week’s season finale, among the folks Peter encounters in the year 2026 is the wide-eyed FBI agent played by — yep, you guessed it — Boardwalk Empire‘s Emily Meade.

But that’s not the twist. This is the twist: Turns out said FBI agent is… Olivia’s now grown-up niece, Ella!

What other surprises await Peter in the future? Could this be a clue about where the show is headed in season 4?http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/fringe-spoiler-future-ella-emily-meade/